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Please tell me that I am the only one who can't buy a bite this time of the year. I have been fishing four times , and have been skunked four times. I see people posting pics of coolers full of crappie and I'm like how in the world are they catching them???
5th time is charm.
How and what are you fishing with? Where are you fishing, on structure? Ive notice location in sc was key yesterday thus why i got crowded off the spot i was fishing.
Here in Florida where I have been fishing depth is key right now one day they may bite at 3ft and next day maybe 12ft
Been their done that! Hang in their go as much as you can .try different stuff it will get better.
Ok picture a square lake. Now divide it into four quarters. Now take one quarter and put 25-30 ft in it, and the other three quarters 3-5 feet deep. Ok now the only structure n in it is around the edges. I see tons of fish from 15-30 feet deep, but who knows what they are. I drug jigs on the bottom, and the rest I have staggered from 20'-12'. Haven't even gotten a bite the last three days.
Same thing happened to us at the New Carroll County 1000 acre lake right after Thanksgiving. We threw the tackle box at 'em and didn't git a strike. Saw lots of fish on the sonar. Gonna go give it another try when and if it ever stops raining here. Climate change.
NB what part of Tn are you in?
Go shallower or maybe deeper. According to where the fish r showing to be . May not be crappie but if they r some their I would work the ledges from top to bottom but do it slowly.:twocents
West TennesseeQuote:
Originally Posted by "D"
Get a good pair of binoculars and see what other guys are doing ? People do it to me. I keep mine handy so I can spy back LOL
Keep putting a small jig in front of their nose til you get one or two, change colors. I had a spot in deep water that showed a big bunch of fish and it took a while but I got 3 catfish to bite. All I ever got there. They were almost on the bottom in 20 - 30 fow. This time of year I would concentrate on the edges of the deeper section.
Well I am not an expert but I fish very very slow this time of year. I ALWAYS have Minnows I can float a plain jig all day and it may catch 1 fish to every 10 I catch with Minnows. I do fish jigs tipped with Minnows a lot and on some days that will produce more fish than just the Minnows and other days they won't touch it but will still eat just a minnow. Also don't rule out the shallower water I found fish in 5 ft of water the last of December water temp was in the low 40's didn't get a bite in the deep water where I started fishing that day.
Yea I think that is one of my problems right now. My minners supplier doesn't carry any during January. It will be mid February till they start getting any in. I have always wanted to use jigs, and buy them on occasion, but I just dont have the confidence in them as I do minners.Quote:
Originally Posted by buffleheadnc2
What lake are trying to fire out?Quote:
Originally Posted by Nutbush
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I can get Minnows any time but It just isn't practical to do that most of the time depending on where I am going. So what I did was take a big ole cooler I had laying around and put an aquarium air bubbler in there and it has been holding some of the same Minnows for the last 2 months. I filled it with rain water and put over 10 dozen in it when I got it going and just add some every now and then to keep a good supply on hand. I keep it in my garage with the lid on and some bait saver in the water. They will eat regular pet fish food but I don't give them much because the water is not filtered at all. I will take a pic of it for ya very easy to do and you could stock up to hold you over when your supplier dosent have any!Quote:
Originally Posted by Nutbush
this time of year there are boats where there are fish most of the time .....lots of larger water bodies here the fish go to humps in about 25 to 35 foot of water ...some spots they suspend at 15 to 25 foot deep as well .....if all else fails look for bait ...birds will give up the fish as well .....the crappie might be under a bunch of other fish as well ...I seen layers of fish in some spots ...yellow bass , sand bass , striped bass ,blue cats ...and then the CRAPPIE right on the bottom .....kinda scavenging it seems to me ...
if yawl have a shad population they are most likely struggling and easy prey ...find the shad ....crappie will be close to them ...good luck to ya ....
Well as Canepole said, the fifth was the charm. Caught a bunch, but they were about an inch too small. Had to change up tge lakes, but I did feel the thump today.
That's great news!
Persistence pays off !!
Now ... start a journal, either pen/paper or phone app or computer program, and write down where, when, on what, & how you fished, water conditions/temps, etc. and eventually you'll have a good starting point & strategy history to fall back on when the current situation is similar. :twocents
Nobody kills them everyday . Best bet if you can afford a guide is book a trip . Otherwise maybe you can find a mentor willing to help . :fish
just keep doing what your doing,Fish the smallest jig you can find,Fish as slow as you can ,then go slower!!!